Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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Due to staff vacations and harvest coverage The Journal office will be closed most of the day on Friday, July 26. Staff members will be out in the field gathering photos and information regarding this year’s wheat harvest....
The Lind and Ritzville School Board of Directors are meeting on Monday, July 29, at Lind-Ritzville Middle School to discuss the budget for the upcoming school year. The budget hearing begins at 6 p.m. in the library and is immediately followed by the regular school board meeting in the cafeteria. The budget hearing serves as an opportunity for board members to discuss and answer questions regarding the proposed budget for the school year. The budget hearing and the school board meeting are open to the public. The... Full story
The state’s three national winners of the Distinguished Young Women, formerly America’s Junior Miss program, will emcee the Aug. 3 Washington state scholarship program set for Washington State University’s Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum. The newly named national winner for 2013, Nicole Renard of Kennewick, will join Washington’s and America’s Junior Miss winners Linda Felber, for 1964, and Lenne Jo Hallgren Best, for 1976, on stage during the evening of competition. Twenty Washington high school seniors arrive in Pullman a...
After completing rock crushing last week, work crews are now moving gravel as part of the Lind-Hatton Road reconstruction project. Apollo Inc. is the contractor handling the project, and closed Lind-Hatton Road between Highway 21 and Phillips Road for construction on April 29. The nearly five-mile stretch of the roadway has a mid-August completion date for the construction, but Adams County Engineer Scott Yaeger estimates the project is almost a week behind schedule. The road is expected to open to thoroughfare traffic in...
The Lind Chamber of Commerce recently created housing forms to allow Lind residents and other individuals interested in moving to the community with an easily accessible form to advertise available properties in the town. The form allows residents to provide basic housing information to advertise rental properties or homes for sale in the Lind area. All of the forms are collected and placed in a three-ring binder in the Lind Town Hall office for accessibility purposes. The chamber board members sent a form to all residents...
Physician Valerie Eckley returns to East Adams Rural Hospital beginning the first full week of August. She will work Tuesday through Friday in the clinic and is now scheduling patients. The district will pay Eckley a base salary of $92,538 per year. She will also receive $50,880 in annual compensation for emergency department coverage. The district will provide $3,500 annually for continuing education and provide professional liability insurance coverage. Eckley received a one-time $4,000 signing bonus. Her duties will... Full story
The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair is in need of volunteers to serve as superintendents in two departments. Superintendents are needed for field crops and photography departments. The fair board is also seeking help from volunteers to assist with a variety of activities and duties during the four-day event. There are also slots available in the office and exhibits building. Anyone who is interested is asked to contact Morgane Roth, superintendent coordinator, by email at [email protected] or by calling 6...
The annual tab published for the Wheat Land Communities’ Fair as a supplement of The Journal has undergone a name change, now being referred to as “The Exhibitor’s Guide.” The tab, formally known as “The Premium Book,” changed classification this year to clarify the purpose of the book. The publication lists all of the information potential exhibitors at the 2013 fair need to know and also contains entry forms to a variety of departments, contests and also campground forms. An addition to this year’s publication i... Full story
Family and friends gathered at Memories Diner last Sunday to celebrate Molly Schmidt’s 108th birthday. Schmidt, who turned 108 on July 22, is the oldest resident in the Ritzville community and currently residents at Rose Garden Estates. In honor of her birthday, Schmidt received two birthday cakes, flowers and cards to celebrate the legendary birthday. As Ritzville’s oldest resident, Schmidt was honored in last year’s Ritzville Community Parade during the Labor Day weeke... Full story
With the final 2013-15 state biennial budget in hand, the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) has selected 72 clean water projects to receive a share of $152 million in loans and grants during the state’s next fiscal year, which began on July 1. The Town of LaCrosse was in the top five, highest-priority projects to receive funding in the state. The town receives an $891,400 loan to repair its sewer system. Of this, $22,925 is forgivable principal loan, which is money that does not have to be paid back. The town is p...
The Ritzville Area Chamber of Commerce is preparing for this year’s Ritzville Community Parade on Saturday, Aug. 31, and is currently seeking volunteers to assist with parade preparation and coordination. The annual Labor Day weekend parade is held in conjunction with the Wheat Land Communities’ Fair and previously has been coordinated by the Ritzville Festivals Association. Last year, the RACC began working with the Ritzville Festivals Association in preparation for this year when the parade is being organized primarily by...
Nine of Blackie and Louise Reimers children met for a family reunion picnic in the Ritzville City Park on June 22. Those in attendance included: (back, left to right) Fran Rabaliati, Carrie Knight, Mike Reimers, Marsha Smith and Pat Wilson. Front row: Fred Reimers, Mary Reimers, Bill Reimers and Steve Reimers. Photo courtesy of J.R.Tree Photography... Full story
Around 100 family and friends gathered together on July 19 at the Plager ranch to celebrate Wes Plager’s 90th birthday. Family members present at the event are (back row, left to right) Jerad Plager, Freya Roth, Doug Plager, Damon Roth, Rudy Plager, Derrick Gonzalez, Kevin Arlt, Gary Benzel, Boone Plager, John Phillips and Marc Phillips. Middle row (l-r): Stacey Plummer, Morgane Plager Roth, Matt Plager, Julie Meyer, Joni Plager, Korrine Gonzalez, Marci Darby, Boyd Plager, K...
The Lind-Ritzville/Lamont Middle School Bulldogs team went undefeated last season with a 10-0 record. The team includes (back row, l-r) Coach Heidi Nygren, Emma Aldrich, Kacee Lofollette, Alarah Pulliam, Laurel Hayes, Lauren Ellis, Alisha Baker, Hailey Roderick, Emily Rosen, Emily Kinney, Jasmine Raymond and Coach Steve Nygren. Front row: Paige Kiehn, Trinity Wyma, Alison Deckard, Manager Rachel Nygren, Manager Aliyah Yaeger, Manager Lacey Miller, Tessa O’Brien, Morgan Lane a...
Lucille M. Gallion died at the age of 100 on Thursday, July 18, at Deaconess Hospital in Spokane. She was born on Oct. 18, 1912, to Frank and Nellie (Cronkhite) Bakerin in Vernon County, Missouri. When she was four years old, her family traveled by train moving to northeast Montana and arriving near Malta on Nov. 16, 1916, in the middle of a freezing Montana winter. In 1927, she began attending high school in Malta. While attending high school she worked for several different... Full story
Clyde Sherman Telecky, a lifelong resident of Ritzville, died at age 95 on Thursday, July 18, at the Rose Garden Estates. He was born May 12, 1918, to Frank and Caroline (Olsen) Telecky. After graduating from Ritzville High School in 1936, he started farming east of Ritzville. In 1940, he married Mae Meyer and they farmed until 1957 when they sold the ranch. He then worked at the Ritzville Trading Company, the ASCS office and as a ranch hand. In 1965, he started work as a...
I would like to point out that in all the discussion about the hospital and how much it will cost – the entire discussion is focused around ten million dollars. Please be aware that borrowing ten million dollars is not free. I have noticed that the discussion has not extended to how much a ten million dollar loan will cost us over the 30-year life of the loan. I am not an accountant, but I can assure you that when I have borrowed a large amount of money over a long period of time, I paid handsomely. Do not be fooled by the t...
The estimated cost of a new hospital is said to be no more than $50 annually for an owner/renter of a home assessed at $50,000 for perhaps the next 30 years. Look around, how many of the current residents of Ritzville can be expected to pay the hospital bill for as many as 30 more years? One important reason there are unsold homes in Ritzville is the rate of dying (or abandoned homes) exceeds those looking for a home in Ritzville. The power brokers in Ritzville have been very successful in making certain that most of the chil...
The send-off reception for Distinguished Young Women Dalyn Killian and Maya Wahl has been changed due to a scheduling conflict to 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 28, at the Zion Philadelphia United Church of Christ fellowship hall. Killian and Wahl are preparing to attend the DYW state program in Pullman on Aug. 3. The event is open to the public and community members are encouraged to come support the young women before the state program. Zion Philadelphia UCC is located at 301 East Broadway Avenue in Ritz... Full story
Some major misunderstandings and misrepresentations of the Hospital District’s finances have been making the rounds; here are the facts. The two key change points in the District’s cash-flow history have been the loss of the doctors at the end of January of 2011, and the final termination of the terrible Coast-to-Coast contract at the end of September 2012. The District’s losses during the period thus defined – that is, for February 2011 through September 2012, inclusive – were at an annualized rate of $954,077 (not adju...
To paraphrase an old proverb, “We sit in the shade of trees others have planted.” Many years ago, those before us recognized a need and as residents we have benefited from their forethought. We need a new hospital in Ritzville! I spent two days recently at the hospital and realized how important a new facility is needed. The need for an overnight stay kept me from having to go to Spokane for care. At first, it seemed rather useless to have beds and care available, but there were two of us at the time. The emergency rooms wer... Full story
There are many sides to the ongoing saga of the effort to decide whether or not to build a new hospital/clinic in Ritzville. To me, the question is not if we need a NEW hospital – it is whether we need a hospital at all. Again – to me, it is an obvious YES, of course we need a hospital. No, we don’t need to try to build a Deaconess, or Sacred Heart, here in Ritzville, but we do need a facility with a few beds and a good emergency department, along with clinic rooms, radiology, physical therapy and laboratory, and of cours...
Overall, voter turnout in Adams County fluctuates wildly depending upon the nature of the election. For instance, one of the best voter participations on record in recent years was the November 2012 General Election when 75.76 percent of voters sent in their ballot. The 2012 primary election, when the county’s new superior court judge was elected, went a bit differently. Only 45.9 percent of registered voters participated. A meager voter turnout should never be the case. Preservation of a democracy relies on the p...
When it comes to rating All-Star games in the professional ranks, I’m sure most people would rate football as the hands down worst of the lot simply because most players don’t want to be there and the defense usually leaves a lot to be desired. A lot of fans like hockey and basketball because scoring is off the charts. An all-star basketball game might end up 153-148. A regular season game with that kind of score usually has four overtimes attached. Great ballplayers will wor... Full story
Since mid-June Lisa Hummel has expanded her role at the Ritzville Pastime Bar & Grill from employee to owner, effectively completing a dream of hers to one day own a bar. Hummel entered an agreement to purchase the establishment on June 19, and has been actively working to spruce up the place and develop a new menu and other offerings that will increase business and make the Pastime a regular stop for more area residents. While waiting for the Washington State Liquor Control... Full story